Low Moisture Foods

Low Moisture Foods

Drying foods and ingredients to low moisture content is an excellent method of preservation. However, the low-moisture food matrix results in unique conditions that alter traditional chemical and microbial spoilage mechanisms. Details of chemical, nutritional, and sensory research in this area are described in the Long-term Food Storage section of this website. The research described here largely focuses on detecting and controlling microorganisms of concern in low-moisture food matrices.

Sample Projects:

• Use of non-pathogenic “surrogate” organisms to study the survival and thermotolerance of food pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella ssp. in low water activity foods, such as flour, peanut butter, and other nut butters. 

• Adopting advanced molecular biology techniques to study Cronobacter and other organisms known to cause human illness in low moisture foods or ingredients, including infant formula or medical foods provided to at-risk populations 

• Cross-disciplinary, collaborative studies to better understand the potential and technical limitations of RNA/DNA-based detection of microbes in dairy powders and support current “zero tolerance” efforts for Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, and Cronobacter sakazakii in these matrices. The long-term goals require a fusion of food science, genetics, molecular biology, and engineering.